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The Williams sisters are two professional American
tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...
players:
Venus Williams Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American professional tennis player. A former world No. 1 in both singles and doubles, Williams has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, five at Wimbledon and two at the US Open. She is ...
(b. 1980), a seven-time Grand Slam title winner (singles), and
Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American inactive professional tennis player. Considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) fo ...
(b. 1981), twenty-three-time Grand Slam title winner (singles), both of whom were coached from an early age by their parents Richard Williams and
Oracene Price Oracene Price (born April 3, 1952) is an American tennis coach. She is best known for being both the mother and coach of Venus and Serena Williams, who are both widely regarded among the best tennis players of all time. She is the former wife of ...
. Both sisters have been ranked by the
Women's Tennis Association The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) is the principal organizing body of women's professional tennis. It governs the WTA Tour which is the worldwide professional tennis tour for women and was founded to create a better future for women's tenn ...
at the world No. 1 position in both
singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...
and
doubles Men's doubles, Women's doubles or Mixed doubles are sports having two players per side, including; * Beach volleyball * Doubles badminton * Doubles curling * Footvolley * Doubles pickleball * Doubles squash * Doubles table tennis * Doubles te ...
. In 2002, after the French Open, Venus and Serena Williams were ranked world No. 1 and No. 2 on singles, respectively, marking the first time in history that sisters occupied the top two positions. On 21 June 2010, Serena and Venus again held the No. 1 and No. 2 rankings spots in singles, respectively, some eight years after first accomplishing this feat. At the time, Serena was three months shy of her 29th birthday and Venus had just celebrated her 30th birthday. There is a noted professional rivalry between the sisters in singles — between the 2001 US Open and the
2017 Australian Open The 2017 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park between 16 and 29 January 2017. It was the 105th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. The tournament consisted of even ...
, they contested nine major finals. They became the first two players, female or male, to contest four consecutive major singles finals, from the
2002 French Open The 2002 French Open was the second Grand Slam event of 2002 and the 106th edition of the French Open. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from late May through early June, 2002. Both Gustavo Kuerten and Jennifer Capriati ...
to the 2003 Australian Open; Serena famously won all four to complete the first of two "Serena Slams" ( non-calendar year Grand Slams). Between 2000 and 2016, they collectively won 12 Wimbledon singles titles (Venus five, and Serena seven). Nonetheless, they remain very close, often watching each other's matches in support, even after one of them had been knocked out of a tournament. By winning the 2001 Australian Open doubles title, they became the fifth pair of women to complete the career Grand Slam in doubles, and the only pair to complete the
career Golden Slam The Grand Slam in tennis is the achievement of winning all four major championships in one discipline in a calendar year, also referred to as the "Calendar-year Grand Slam" or "Calendar Slam". In doubles, a team may accomplish the Grand Slam pl ...
in doubles. At the time, Venus and Serena were only 20 and 19 years old, respectively. Since then, they have gone on to add another two Olympic gold medals at the
2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...
and the
2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
. Moreover, the duo would go on to win a non-calendar year Grand Slam in doubles between
2009 Wimbledon The 2009 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 123rd edition of the Wimbledon Championships and was held f ...
and 2010 Roland Garros, which made them the co-No. 1 doubles players on 7 June 2010. Their most recent major doubles title came at the
2016 Wimbledon Championships The 2016 Wimbledon Championships was a Grand Slam tennis tournament which took place at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The main draw commenced on 27 June 2016 and concluded on 10 July 2016. 2016 ...
. Both players have won four gold medals at the
Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...
, one each in singles and three in doubles— all won together— the most of any tennis players. Venus has also won a silver in mixed doubles at the 2016 Rio Olympics. As a duo, they have also completed the double career Golden Slam in doubles. Between the two of them, they have completed the
Boxed Set A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands ...
, winning all four grand slams in singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles. They split all four mixed doubles titles in 1998. __TOC__


Doubles: 23 (22 titles, 1 runner-up)


Team competition finals: 1 (1 titles)


Performance timelines


Women's doubles

* Neither withdrawals nor walkovers are included in wins and losses. Note: Serena Williams did not play at the 2004 Olympics because of injury. Venus partnered with American Chanda Rubin and lost in the first round to eventual gold-medalists
Sun Tiantian Sun Tiantian (; ; born 12 October 1981) is a Chinese former professional tennis player. She won the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in women's doubles along with her partner Li Ting. Sun reached a career-high singles ranking of worl ...
and Li Ting.


Boycott of the Indian Wells Masters

During the 2001 Indian Wells Masters tournament in
Indian Wells, California Indian Wells is a city in Riverside County, California, in the Coachella Valley. Incorporated in 1967, it lies in between the cities of Palm Desert and La Quinta. As of the 2010 Census, the city population was 4,958. The city hosts the sixt ...
, controversy erupted when
Venus Williams Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American professional tennis player. A former world No. 1 in both singles and doubles, Williams has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, five at Wimbledon and two at the US Open. She is ...
withdrew four minutes prior to her semifinal match with her sister Serena. The following day, Serena played
Kim Clijsters Kim Antonie Lode Clijsters (; born 8 June 1983) is a Belgian former professional tennis player. Clijsters reached the world No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles, having held both rankings simultaneously in 2003. She won six major titles, ...
in the final. Venus and her father, (coach to her and Serena) Richard Williams were booed as they made their way to their seats. Serena was booed intermittently during the final, in which she defeated Clijsters, 4–6, 6–4, 6–2, and even during the presentation ceremony. Richard accused the crowds at Indian Wells of overt racism, saying, "The white people at Indian Wells, what they've been wanting to say all along to us finally came out: 'Nigger, stay away from here, we don't want you here'". However, no other reports of verbal racism were reported to tournament officials, although Venus has stated without elaboration, "I heard what he heard."
Oracene Price Oracene Price (born April 3, 1952) is an American tennis coach. She is best known for being both the mother and coach of Venus and Serena Williams, who are both widely regarded among the best tennis players of all time. She is the former wife of ...
(mother and coach of Venus and Serena) accused the crowd of "taking off their hoods".


Effects and criticism

After the initial controversy, neither Williams sister played the tournament in Indian Wells for 14 years. The
Women's Tennis Association The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) is the principal organizing body of women's professional tennis. It governs the WTA Tour which is the worldwide professional tennis tour for women and was founded to create a better future for women's tenn ...
currently classifies the Indian Wells tournament as a Premier Mandatory event for all eligible players. Exceptions are made when players engage in tournament promotions, but Venus and Serena both declined to promote the tournament; WTA Tour CEO Larry Scott agreed he would not, promotionally, "put them in a position that is going to be awkward," and tournament director Charlie Pasarell has stated he would accept the WTA tour's ruling. Allegations had been made before Venus's withdrawal that Richard Williams decided who won the matches between his daughters. Those allegations continued and increased as a result of her withdrawal. Richard has said that racial epithets were used against him and Venus as they sat in the stands during the final, but no official complaints were recorded by the tournament. Venus and Serena have been criticized for refusing to discuss the controversy, as some believe that their silence perpetuates racism. Serena discusses what happened in her view at Indian Wells in detail in an entire chapter titled "The Fiery Darts of Indian Wells" in her 2009 autobiography, ''On the Line''. She says that on the morning of the semifinal, Venus told the tour trainer that she had injured her knee and didn't think she could play and tried for hours to get approval from the trainer to withdraw, but the tournament officials kept stalling.
What got me most of all was that it wasn't just a scattered bunch of boos. It wasn't coming from just one section. It was like the whole crowd got together and decided to boo all at once. The ugliness was just raining down on me, hard. I didn't know what to do. Nothing like this had ever happened to me. What was most surprising about this uproar was the fact that tennis fans are typically a well-mannered bunch. They're respectful. They sit still. And in Palm Springs, especially, they tended to be pretty well-heeled, too. But I looked up and all I could see was a sea of rich people—mostly older, mostly white—standing and booing lustily, like some kind of genteel lynch mob. I don't mean to use such inflammatory language to describe the scene, but that's really how it seemed from where I was down on the court. Like these people were gonna come looking for me after the match. ... There was no mistaking that all of this was meant for me. I heard the word ''nigger'' a couple times, and I knew. I couldn't believe it. That's just not something you hear in polite society on that stadium court ... Just before the start of play, my dad and Venus started walking down the aisle to the players' box by the side of the court, and everybody turned and started to point and boo at them ... It was mostly just a chorus of boos, but I could still hear shouts of 'Nigger!' here and there. I even heard one angry voice telling us to go back to Compton. It was unbelievable ... We refused to return to Indian Wells. Even now, all these years later, we continue to boycott the event. It's become a mandatory tournament on the tour, meaning that the WTA can fine a player if she doesn't attend. But I don't care if they fine me a million dollars, I will not play there again.
However, on February 3, 2015, Serena Williams wrote an exclusive column for ''Time'' magazine stating her intentions to return to Indian Wells for a tournament on March 9, 2015. She did indeed return and won her opening match. Williams withdrew before her semi-final match with Simona Halep because of a knee injury. The WTA announced on January 27, 2016, that Venus would return to Indian Wells for the first time in 15 years.


Best result in Grand Slam singles (combined)

(W) Won tournament: final contested by the Williams sisters.


Year-end WTA ranking


See also

* Williams sisters rivalry *
Klitschko brothers Vitali Klitschko (born 19 July 1971) and Wladimir Klitschko (born 25 March 1976), known as the Klitschko Brothers, are Ukrainian former professional boxers. During their peak years between 2004 and 2015, they were considered the dominant world he ...
- similarly dominant
boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...
brothers


References


Further reading

* Edmondson, Jacqueline (2005). Venus and Serena Williams: A Biography. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams Sisters Serena Williams Venus Williams 1980s births Living people 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women 21st-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American women African-American female tennis players American female tennis players Australian Open (tennis) champions French Open champions Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's doubles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's singles Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in tennis People from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida Sibling duos Sports families of the United States Sportspeople from Compton, California Sportspeople from Saginaw, Michigan Sportspeople from West Palm Beach, Florida Tennis doubles teams Tennis people from California Tennis people from Florida Tennis people from Michigan Tennis players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 2012 Summer Olympics US Open (tennis) champions Wimbledon champions Williams family (tennis)